Glow
by Endestprana
Summary: "It's fine to be conflicted, cause there must be the turning point for us to reach and entangle the fate…" - I'm trying to write a cliche that I might like?
1. Chapter 1

It's melting. Whenever you called out my name, in that very instant, my heart was melting. So nonchalantly, as if there's no intention at all, to make my heart fluttered. So cruel yet sweet, that's the effect your voice had on me, Yocchan.

Looking at you covered in sweat as you danced together with the others really put me at a trance. With body that looked so fragile you moved as if the steps were created just for a promotion of your gracious movement.

The gentle touch of yours always left a lingering warmth that tingled my heart a lot. Just a bit of the contact was enough to make me fantasized about so many situations that involved us doing something, well, maybe naughty? That's just show how much impact you had on me, Yocchan.

—

Riko, still in her second year of high school, eyes looking through the window of her class while her being was tightly sat down, pretending to be capable of following the lesson her teacher gave that day. Well, the cause for such good-natured girl like Riko to be diverting her attention where it doesn't belong was none other than her secret crush. Her junior. Her fellow member of Aqours. Her fellow mates of Guilty Kiss. The one who always flicked the love fire inside her heart. Didn't know why, she just loved it when it came to her little angel.

"You just can't wait till break, huh?" You-chan from behind her, surprised the long-haired girl as if she knew what was going on inside that head of her friend

"Y-Y-You-chan! I-I-I-It's not like that!" she stuttered

"Yeah, you can convince me like that all the time with no success at all. You've been staring at her whenever you had the chance, don't you?" playfully teased the brunette as she carefully keeping her attention to make sure the teacher in front of the class didn't notice Riko and herself

"So Riko-chan is at it again? You sure loves doing this the hard way, Riko-chan…" From beside the ash-haired girl, Chika spoke as her mind started to be unable to follow the boring lesson

"Not you too, Chika-chan!" and with that, Riko knew that from that time up until their break, she would be assaulted with questions and teasing from both of her close friends

—

"Just what is their intention? I know that it's too apparent that I love Yocchan, but it doens't mean I have to confess, right?" Riko mumbled to herself as she sat on the bench while enjoying her meal she brought from home

And not even a few seconds after Riko said those words, the woman she claimed she's in love with came up from behind her and tapped her shoulder, which of course, earned a big squeak from Riko herself.

"Y-Y-Y-Yocchan…,, w-w-w-w-w-what are y-y-you doing here?"

"Whoa, you stuttered too much, Riko-san." said Yoshiko as she sat beside the flustered senior of hers "By the way, what are you, talking to yourself like that? Is there something that's been bothering you? If it's so, tell me and maybe I can help you?"

"O-Oh, i-i-it's nothing, really. I-I-I was just confused about a book that I read earlier."

"Is that so? Well, if it's nothing… "

"Y-Y-Yeah, it's nothing. Don't worry, okay?"

"You're only making me curious if you kept on insisting it's nothing like that, you know? Well, let's just say I let you off the hook for now cause there's something important thing that I want to ask you."

"Ah, what is it Yocchan?" and Riko finally gained calm as the topic of her self-mumbling was ignored for the moment

"W-Well, I know it might sound crazy but I can't let myself got distracted anymore, so i must ask you this…" Yoshiko looked so determined and it made Riko skipped a beat "Riko-san, d-d-do you know a way to properly confess to someone?"


	2. Chapter 2

A night of fateful encounter. That was the right term for Yoshiko to describe her most dearful memories back then. Back when she was still alone. Alone in the middle of the normals. The humans who didn't strive for uniqueness, clinging to whatever's around, taking norms as if that was the right thing to do, abandoning self-interest, and lastly, the most hateful, was lack of ambition. And right among those bunch of useless existences to her, she found herself getting lost.

"Lost in the middle of a festival must be a stupid thing to do..." Yoshiko once again assured herself that she was indeed doing something crazy by bracing herself and stepped out of the house, marching towards the pinnacle of her weakness: crowds.

"Oh my gosh, there's just so many people around, and all just because they wanted to enjoy the damn fireworks!? So childish!" Mumbled Yoshiko as she finally managed to get free from the main street where the festival was held, eyes still trying to find a place to rest. And then, after she aimlessly walked around, she found herself getting lost.

"What a bad luck... Now where is it, a shrine? No wonder there's stairs..." Yoshiko claimed, but well, since the shrine looked void of people aside from herself, she might as well took the situation she's in as something not of bad luck but the good one.

Up she went to the back of the shrine, trying to find a place for her to enjoy the fireworks she was supposed to hate because of the crowds. "Ah, it's empty..." said the purple-eyed girl as she sat on the bench she found nearby.

A nice breeze, calming surrounding, and what's more there's no people around. What a perfect combination. Yoshiko leisurely swung her feet while her smile was visible there as her eyes were still locking the focus on the sky, waiting for the damn fireworks that's supposed to be launched any minute by now.

However, just as she was about to scream out of joy as the light of the fireworks started to fill up the sky, her attention was instead being drawn by the sudden loud sound from the main entrance of the shrine. And Yoshiko, not one who's fan of horror, trying to focus herself onto the fireworks, but well, to no avail. She was too conscious of the sound she couldn't help but bracing herself for whatever's there.

"Geez, might as well being killed rather than trembling in fear like this!" Yoshiko shouted to herself, gaining all the courage she had inside, right foot started the step towards the source of the sound.

Yoshiko's surrounding was dark. That much she knew. She knew, but there's something wrong there. There must be something wrong there. Out inside the darkness like this, ignoring the fireworks in the back, there's no way she could find something that shiny. So full of light. It was as if she found an angel that has fallen from the heaven. And right there, a mysterious girl was lying down near the stairs, unconscious.

"How come?"

"I'm sure I was the only one who's here..."

"I even checked the corners in case there's someone but I found none..."

"So, how come this girl, without even a sound , suddenly fell and unconscious like this?"

"There's no way she's an angel, right?"

"But wait, maybe she's a youkai?"

"Ahahahahahaaa-aahaa- uummm, Yoshiko, you know you're not a girl with resistance to this kind of thing so please stop troubling yourself like this!"

"Well, leaving Jokes aside, isn't it dangerous? What should I do?"

"Do I have to find help for this girl?"

"But what if she was indeed something out of this world?"

"What should I do if that was really the case?"

"It's indeed fun but I might lose my life if she was a nasty one freaky creature..."

And, as her conversation with herself managed to fit a whole five minutes, she finally decided that she really have to help the girl. The mysterious girl. The girl of brunette,, long haired, smooth skin, slender body, and what's most alluring from the said girl for Yoshiko was those lips of the girl. Out of this world. So, convinced that someone with such beautiful lips must be a good person and good person must be saved, Yoshiko lifted the girl and carried her downstairs.

 _3 years later_

"So boring... After all the hardwork I did in middle school and all got was this? Being accepted into a school in this rural town, or might as well called it a village, is not something to be happy about. What's wrong with Mom, I wonder? Forcing me to attend this school. This boring school..."

Out in the open, Yoshiko was lying on the bench just outside her new class as she was just got accepted into this peculiar high school a week ago. The Uranohoshi. Her eyes were gazing out into the sky, her mouth was munching the strawberry lollipop she brought from her home.

And then, she heard distant noise, maybe not that far off as she could, even a little bit, understood what was being talked there. "A new student? From Tokyo?" Yoshiko mumbled to herself "Why would someone who's living in such big city like Tokyo opted to instead go here? Must be a stupid person." so Yoshiko claimed before she accidentally fell off the bench.

After gaining herself standing again, her eyes were drawn to an existence that looked strangely familiar yet she didn't really believe if her eyes weren't fooling her.

" _The girl from that time...?"_


	3. Chapter 3

"Uchiura, huh?"

"How long has it been...? Three years, maybe?"

"That day, I'm sure I was with my mom enjoying the festival..., but then..."

"All that I could recall was that girl saved me..."

"Not that I really remember her face or any distinctive feature..."

"Or maybe not, she's sure a beauty..., I think?"

Riko immersed herself in reminiscence as the car that was heading to the new house in a far town from Tokyo steadily running through the road. A new land. New yet nostalgic. Not that romantic but still she had some memories etched regarding that place.

"Will I get new friends?"

"Can I blend well with the others, I wonder?"

"Such a plain girl like me..., huh~ Riko, you're dreaming too much..."

"I hope things went smooth at my new school..."

And as the chatting inside her head started to take a rather dark turn, her mother suddenly screamed (not that loud), saying that they've finally arrived at Uchiura. Riko must be lying if she wasn't interested in this peculliar town. Town with such beautiful seas must be a great place to live. "I wish the people here are as great as their oceans..."

For the first day of her live in Uchiura, Riko opted to go together with her mother to visit their neighborhood, hoping she would meet someone her age, and maybe she could be friend with, decreasing her worry about a bleak highschool life. The first house they visited was the one right on the left, an inn.

There, she caught a glimpse of two girls who looked around her age who were playing water guns as the other pair of girls, seemingly older, trying to catch them and make the former duo stopped their childishness. Riko unconsciously let out a small smile, and without her knowing, one of the girl, the one with orange hair, saw her and abruptly she stopped in her earlier chase and run. the orange girl then talked about something with the other girl with gray hair, then a rather devilish smile formed in both of them.

Surely not long afterwards both of the girls suddenly leaped towards Riko who's getting curious about a rather big dog house nearby.

"Kyaaaaa...!" surprised Riko

"Ahahahahahaha...! Hey, you must be new here, right?" the orange girl started out of nowhere

"What's your name, new girl? I'm You and this one here is Chika!" claimed the gray girl, surprising Riko further

"I-I-I-I M-My name is Riko. Sakurauchi Riko. H-How did you two know that I'm new here?"

"Well, we both know everyone who lives around and surely you're not one until recently, right?" Chika claimed

"Y-Yeah, I'd just arrived yesterday."

"Whoa...! Where do you come from, Riko-chan?" You-chan asked

"T-Tokyo."

"Wha? Wow! Tokyo, You-chan! You heard her, right!? She's from Tokyo! A city girl!"

"Chika-chan, calm down a bit. She's terrified because of you, geez!"

"A-A-A D-Don't worry, I-I'm fine."

"The city girl says she's fine, You-chan!" brightful inside Chika's eyes

"Stop with the city girl, Chika-chan!" You-chan pinched the cheeks of her friend to calm the latter down "Well, nice to meet you Riko-chan. By the way, You're a highschooler, right?"

"Yes, I'm a second year."

"Whoa! The same as us. What school?" now it's You-chan who looked bright in the eyes

"My mom said it was called Uranohoshi..."

"Same school, too!" escalated brightness of You-chan "Chika-chan, let's go take her around the town! Let's go, Riko-chan! Full speed ahead~"

"Aye, captain!~" Chika replied and both herself and You-chan took the hands of their newly found friend

"E-E-E-E-E-E-Ehhhhhh...?!" all Riko could do was surrender to fate and let her new friends dragged her around. Well, not that she hated the effort, of course.

 _Three hours after the tour, Kanan's diving shop_

"Nee, You-chan, do people here still doing festivals?" Riko asked the girl who's now in diving suit after being defeated by their senior Kanan at diving contest

"Ah, festival? Yes, they still do. What's up with festival, Riko-chan?"

"Um, no..., it's just that I had once visited this place back in middle school, and at that time there was festival."

"Really!? I thought you're completely new, Riko-chan!" Chika suddenly spoke

"Um, yes. I think the festival was being held somewhere in this island, under a steppe upside to a shrine."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Me and You-chan also came that time, right, You-chan?"

"Ah yes! So, what's with festival, Riko-chan? Seems like you're not asking this because you wanted to visit one again?"

"Ahaha... Well, at that time, I don't really remember what happened to me."

"What do you mean by that, Riko-chan?" Chika asked

"The thing is, I remember myself went to the festival together with my mom. But then, the next thing I know I was inside a room near the festival and my mom told me I was unconscious and being carried down from the shrine. However, I don't remember ever getting up to the shrine. I don't even know the way to, you know?" and so, Chika and You-chan looked a little bit shocked. What had just happened back then?

" _And the only thing that I remember was an image of a girl with purple eyes..."_


	4. Chapter 4

"By the way, Riko-chan..., me and Chika-chan were having a big plan for you... Interested?" You-chan, in the walk towards Riko's house while she herself went to visit Chika's house. It was one week after their meeting at Chika's house and they were already clicked as best friends

"What plan, You-chan?"

"Hmmmmm..., we want to form a school idol group!" excitedly claimed by the gray hair

"H-Huh? W-Wait a moment..., why school idol?"

"Well, you know how Chika is when she's excited at something. And me, I will follow her for sure!" Big grin from the short haired girl

"H-Ho... O-Okay, good for you?"

"You just don't get it, huh Riko-chan?" a bored face of You-chan

"Get what, You-chan? You're starting to make me really confused here."

"It's obvious, right? We want you to join us, too!" and not even a split second after You-chan let the words out, Riko answered her straightly

"No."

"Ehhhhh? Why? It's such a great plan, right?"

"No way I'm doing it, You-chan! Just thinking about myself getting on stage, dancing and singing for others to see is enough to make me shiver this bad. No."

"Nee, Riko-chan..., are you really sure about refusing our offer?" and now You-chan's eyes looked playful, thus was enough of a proof that there's already something else the gray hair had been planning for Riko since the beginning

"F-Fine, then. What are you plotting, You-chan? Seems like you won't let me go if I don't agree with you..."

"As expected of Riko-chan! So smart! The thing is-" You-chan whispered about her grand plan

"W-W-W-W-W-W-W-Wha-What? W-W-W-W-Why do I have to resort to such thing? No way, You-chan, it's too embarrassing!" Riko with her signature handwaving of refusal

"No, it's not embarrassing, Riko-chan! Just think about it. You won't have to make excuse to search for that mysterious girl, right? You will have the just mean to visit all the classes, you know? Hehehe"

"Your grinning doesn't make it better, You-chan. B-B-But, even though it's a good offer, it doesn't guarantee I will find her, right?"

"Don't be such pessimistic girl, Riko-chan! Just give your best! Besides, it's not like you will meet her by wishing to miracle, right?"

"W-W-Well, if you put it that way..."

"So...? Are you in?"

"Fine, I'm in."

And all inside Riko's head that day was regret as she was feeling herself being tricked into a false honey trap. Well, even if it didn't really guarantee she would find the purple eyed girl, at least the success rate would increase.

 _Tsushima's residence, morning_

"Yoshiko-chan! Breakfast's ready!" shouted Yoshiko's mother from downstairs

"Yes, mom. I'll come down now!" replied Yoshiko

It was exactly a week after she saw the girl whom she met three years ago. The girl who's mysteriously fell near the shrine's entrance. And now, that said girl turned out to be a new student in her school. An upperclassman, at that. Well, Yoshiko might remember her, but the girl in question had no way of remembering Yoshiko because she wasn't unconscious at the time Yoshiko left her to the adults back then.

But there was an interesting plan inside Yoshiko's head regarding the girl. It was just a guess, but she thought that it wouldn't hurt if she tested it, right? She wanted to know if the girl remembered her or not. Being a romanticist like herself, she couldn't just let slide the idea that they were connected by fate since they met again, right? If she did, then maybe, just maybe, there was indeed something **'unique'** between them. Wishful thinking alright.

And so, with such a random plan inside her head, Yoshiko headed to school that day, equipped with something that she swore she would never wore all her life. A feather. And what made things more stupid was she don a bun on her hairstyle just to make it fit.

"With this, I will be able to draw attention to myself."

"Maybe she will took interest in me, and then... m-m-m-m-m-maybe she would recognized me... e-e-ehehehehe~"

"F-F-F-F-Foolish Yoshiko! It's a bad idea, so let's just stop and do the attention drawing the other way!"

"No way no way no way! It's this! It's only this! Only by doing this I could make her look my way! Yeah, that must be the case!"

 _And so, inside the bus, for the first time in her life, Yoshiko decided to be 'Yohane'. A decision that would soon change her life completely..._


	5. Meeting

"Now it's all set!" said Chika as she collected all the designs she made for the fliers of her new project. A school idol group. As soon as she stood up from near the table inside her house, You-chan came and greeted her.

"Whew, you're fast, You-chan!"

"Hoho~ Not really. By the way, have you done it, Chika-chan?"

"Of course! Look at this! Cute, isn't it?"

"Wow~ It's great, Chika-chan!"

"Hehehe~ Now, all that's left is to invite others into our group. Have you managed to find one, You-chan?"

"Of course."

"Wha? Who? Is it Kanan-chan?"

"Not at all. How can you forgot what we talked yesterday, Chika-chan? It's Riko-chan. Well, not that Kanan is out of reach but I haven't asked her."

"Ehehehehe~ I forgot. Sorry." Chika sheepishly laughed as she went towards You-chan who's lying on her bed, a little quick as she intended to hug the latter

"Ugh. You're heavy, Chika-chan."

"So cruel... By the way, what did you use to make her join us, You-chan?"

"Ah, that. It's nothing, really. Just a little love advice, I think?"

 _The next day_

"Do we really have to do this, Chika-chan?" Riko's inquiry

"Of course, Riko-chan! Just look at You-chan, she managed to convince all students in class 1-A already. Now, you go to class 1-C while I went to 1-B, okay? Make sure you tell them we're a school idol group and we want new member."

"Fine..." said Riko without that much of energy left

Riko walked through the hallway. It's a long walk for the said girl. Well, from what she knew about the class, recently there was one student that really stood up among them. If it's not mistaken, the girl was calling herself a fallen angel. Fallen angel Yohane. And for Riko, out of all things in this world, delusional girl was one of things she didn't want to get involved with. This must be a hurdle she had to overcome for her curiosity, or so Riko thought.

The buzz suddenly surprised Riko, her phone was getting a new message. It's from You-chan. Turned out her friend was really trying to help her find the mysterious girl for Riko. Well, Riko sure was glad, and now it's her turn to repay her friend. "Let's finish this quickly!" claimed her as she opened the door to class 1-C.

 _15:00 near the station in Numazu_

"Too bad,huh, Riko-chan. Looks like she wasn't our junior, after all." You-chan said to the a bit sulking friend beside her

"Well, it can't be helped. All I know about her was the color of her eyes. The other clues were blurry, after all."

"Don't worry, Riko-chan! There's still chance she was our upperclassman, right? Let's finish today's job and think of new strategy for tomorrow, okay?"

"Thanks, You-chan..."

"You're welcome."

You-chan then smiled at her friend and off she went, headed towards the crowd to give out the fliers. Chika was not too far from them, as she was waiting people who came out from the train, preparing an ambush at that. Well, for Riko, all she could do today was helping two of her friends and tried her hardest to thought of a new plan for tomorrow.

Riko must be a fool. She knew that it was futile from the very beginning. Hoping for a miraculous meeting after three years while she herself mostly forgot about the mysterious girl, that's just ridiculous. And what's more, because of her stupid wish, she was dragged into doing something really embarrassing for her. Becoming a school idol was something she would never do all her lifetime. Just why would she agreed to such proposal. Well, since she'd already said she would do it so there's no helping it.

Riko walked slowly, unlike her two other friends who literally leaped to any girl they saw and gave them the fliers. Riko would just greeted anyone nearby and asked them to take the fliers. And after an hour they stopped. Chika was buying them drinks as You-chan accompanied Riko near the bus stop.

"It's so tiring." claimed Riko

"What are you talking about? It's only the first day! We still have a long road ahead!" You-chan smiled brightly

With the last sentence You-chan said to her, Riko knew that tomorrow was going to be another busy day for her. Then, a voice called out to her.

"A-A-A-A Sakurauchi-san...?" Riko was a bit flinched

"Yes. You are..., ah, the one from 1-C earlier."

"Y-Yes, I am Kurosawa Ruby."

"Ruby-chan..., so, Ruby-chan, do you need anything from me?"

"W-Well, I-I was looking for my friend..."

"Your friend? Is she in the same class as you?"

"Yes, the one who sat beside me. The one with brown hair."

"Hmmmmmm. I don't think I've seen her around today. Well, how about we search for her together?"

"Are you sure you want to help me, Sakurauchi-san?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? Let's go!"

"Y-Yes..."

Riko and Ruby then went searching for Hanamaru that was running off minutes before the Ruby met Riko. Seemed like the brown hair found someone she knew and she wanted to talk to the said someone. Unfortunately, that someone suddenly ran and Hanamaru also went chasing the former, inevitably left Ruby alone.

As they walked toward a cafe, suddenly a screaming voice could be heard from their backs.

"Don't come here, Zuramaru!"

"Yoshiko-chan! So you are really Yoshiko-chan!"

"I am Yohane!" shouted Yoshiko once again, feet still running as fast as she could, and as she wasn't paying attention to her surrounding, she crashed onto Riko

"U-Ugh..." Riko tried to stand

"A-A-A-Are you okay...?" Yoshiko held out her hand to help Riko

"I-I'm okay. Thanks." and as Riko's eyes looked up towards the one whom hand she was holding, she saw those eyes again.

 _The eyes she was searching all this time..._


	6. Cluster

"Damn you, Zuramaru! Why did I have to meet you today of all day!?" cursed Yoshiko inside her head as she tried to outrun the brown hair who spotted her right beside the bookstore near her place. From the looks of it, it seemed that the said brown hair and the other one, Ruby, was on the way to her house to give Yoshiko papersheets from today's lesson. The day where she did went to school, but left afterwards out of embarrassment. Well, trying to make herself a freak show out of nowhere was something she never even considered before all her life. And all of that she did just for a glimpse of chance. A chance to, maybe, make the girl from back then, now her senior, to remember her, even a little.

"Just what's wrong with today?! I'm sure I was having a great confidence today, but this?"

"I never expected this and surely I have to reconsider my stupid plan."

"Oh Yoshiko, be a stupid person for all the world to see but without any result is something inexcusable..."

"But..., it is for 'her'..."

"Just forget about her, she barely could open her eyes back then..."

"How could you hold onto such flick of hope like that...?"

"Stop dreaming!"

Yoshiko once again was having a turmoil inside her head as she was surely regretted her decision before. If only she didn't do something stupid like this she might be able to live her life normally. But wait, normal wasn't something she wanted at all. Well, at least her plan was shrewd. However, unknown to the said girl, she was still on her track running onto the girl not so far in front of her. And of course she crashed onto the said girl.

When she lend her hand to help the brunette girl, she saw those features again. Long hair, smooth skin, slender body, golden eyes, and one of her favorite, the lips she usually saw in her dream. She's not mistaken at all. This girl whose hand she held was none other than the girl from three year ago. The new upperclassman in her school.

" _What's the meaning of this?"_

" _D-D-D-D-Does this mean my prayer has been answered?"_

" _W-W-Will I finally experienced a fateful meeting like those in TV...?"_

" _B-B-B-B-But what should I do next?"_

" _Do I have to tell her everything?"_

" _No no no, that's not a good idea. If I do that then there's no_ _ **'unique'**_ _in it, right?"_

" _Feign ignorance, then, Yoshiko!"_

" _C'mon, do it!"_

As Yoshiko helped the brunette to stand her mind struggled to find a way to overcome the sudden development in front of her right then. And surely, as she had decided inside her head, feigning ignorance regarding what happened back then must be the right decision here.

"Sorry for crashing onto you..." Yoshiko said to the brunette, however, the said girl just stared at Yoshiko until she finally replied

"Don't worry about it. There's no scar, so it's fine, really..."

"W-W-Well, if you say so." The weird stare was still locked onto Yoshiko

"U-Umm..., it might sound crazy, but have I meet you somewhere before?"

And as Riko threw the question onto Yoshiko, the latter was frozen. "W-W-W-Whaa, d-d-d-d-d-don't tell me she remembered me?" Yoshiko screamed inside her head. However, she, instead of making things easier, chose to stupidly answered:

" _ **No, I don't think so..."**_ and the brunette could only looked down and accepted the answer

 _Nighttime, Riko's house_

" _There's no way I could be mistaken!"_

" _It must be her!"_

" _There's no one I met before who has those eyes...!"_

" _But why did she lied about it?"_

" _Is she hiding something from me...?"_

" _Don't tell me something happened to me back in the shrine and she doesn't want to tell me about it?"_

" _Should I reach out and ask her about the things three years ago...?"_

" _But I don't think that's a good idea, with how she acted when she saw me."_

" _She's sure remembered me but she hid it, so I need to approach her with different method..."_

" _Keeping silent about it might work...?"_

" _Don't know yet, but it worth a try..."_

" _Hoho~ Finally, I found you my savior!"_

" _Don't think you can fool me and leave me in the dark forever..."_

 _The next day, School, end of lesson time_

Yoshiko was sitting alone on the bench where she saw Riko (now she knew her name) before. Then, from her behind, someone came and greeted her.

"Yoshiko." the girl tapped Yoshiko's shoulder

"Wha-!? Oh, it's you, You. What are you doing here? Aren't you having a club today?" asked the panicked girl. You-chan is one of Yoshiko's friend back when she was in middle school, but because she's older so she rarely met her

"Ah, nay. We were on break today. By the way, may I ask you something, Yoshiko?"

"It's okay. What?"

"You're hiding something from me, right?" playful eyes of You-chan

"Huh? What is it, You? Just ask directly, what is it!?" Yoshiko, being one who's been friend with You-chan for a long time knew that when her friend done those eyes, they never meant something joyful. At least not for her

"Hehehe~ Well, it might be just my hunch, but I can't help but wonder, you know...? Nee, you have meet Riko before, right?" and You-chan's tone got serious all of a sudden

"N-No!" quick answer

"Don't lie to me. I can see through your lies easily, remember?" chuckled

"Damn you! If you already know the answer then don't ask, You!" angry Yoshiko

"Well, I need to make sure so I didn't make the wrong move here... So, why did you lie to her yesterday?" now Yoshiko knew that her friend finally went to the main point

"Ah..., well, it was inevitable." flatly

"What inevitable? You're just dreaming like always, huh, Yoshiko?" You-chan grabbed the shoulder of her friend

"Leave me alone!" trying to break free

"Hahaha~ Leaving that aside, wanna hear my request, Yoshiko?" a devilish smile of You-chan

"Just say it already. It's not like I have any chance of escaping you when you're grinning crazy like that." Yoshiko knew her friend well

"As expected of Yoshiko! Well, let's get to the main point: Will you join our school idol group?"

" _Huh?"_ was all that Yoshiko could responded that time


	7. Songs

_Clubroom, an hour after classes were dismissed_

"Lily..., what are you doing there?" asked the purple eyed

"Ah, this? It's nothing Yocchan." normally answered

"Really? Then, what is the use of that little box over there?" hand pointing to the little silver box hidden behind Riko

"A-A-A-A-A-A-Ah, i-i-i-it's just something unimportant Yocchan. Believe me!"

"Yeah, like your troubled face's going to make me believe you one bit. So, who is it for? Are you trying to cheat on me?" playfully

"W-W-Wha-What? Of course not, Yocchan! I never even considered such thing, okay!? Ah, right. It's a present for mom. Yeah, that's it!" awkward, super awkward

"It's near my birthday and you planned to give your mother a present? Hee~" Yoshiko didn't stop her playful stare at her senior who's getting more awkward as time passed by

"Okay, fine. I was planning to give you later, but you'd just find out about it right now. So, do you want me to give this now, Yocchan?" surrendered Riko

"Wha? No way. Tomorrow is my birthday, there's no way I would accept your present today... But, if you insist on giving me a present today, I can take another present instead, you know?" Yoshiko surely tried to invite her girlfriend into doing something they frequented everyday. Well, today she hadn't got hers, so, yeah...

"Y-Yocchan... You don't mean on doing that, right?" Riko seemed to get what Yoshiko's intention is

"What do you mean by 'that', Lily? Tell me."

"Y-You know what I mean just fine!"

"But I really don't get it..."

"Um..., do you want to tell me that you want me to k-k-kiss you here?"

"Hmm...? What? I cant hear you quite well..." Yoshiko teased her for sure

"Y-Yocchan! Y-You want me to kiss you, right?!"

"Well, I don't really wish for a kiss today. But, if you want to then I won't protest at all..." Yoshiko smiled, her smug face really revealed that Riko surely had been tricked into doing this from the very beginning

"F-Fine, then. Come here you cheeky angel before Mari anyone notices us here!" shouted Riko as she opened her arms, readying a hug for her girlfriend

"So romantic. As expected of my Lily~" Yoshiko slowly went to the seat across her where Riko was

And so the brunette slowly closed her eyes as her lips clumsily reached for her partner's. As the lips started to touched each other, suddenly a black light covered Yoshiko's vision. And thus, was another version of weird dream she had been having ever since she joined Aqours a week ago.

It was started with a simple dream where she was heading to a place promised for Guilty Kiss (she thought) training, but when she asked about it to Riko who's been waiting for her there, suddenly the brunette's face turned gloom and not long afterwards, the said girl cried, saying that Yoshiko forgot they were having a date that day.

At first, Yoshiko woke up and just assumed it was just a stupidity on her part for thinking too much about her certain junior. But then came the second dream. This time, she was having a date with Riko inside the Aquarium, holding hands and happily strolled around. And when she was about to kiss Riko, she was suddenly being brought into reality. And what's worse, it always ended like that every time. Including this seventh time.

"Just what is happening here...?"

"Ever since i got involved with her strange dreams came to me every night..."

"Is it because I joined Aqours? No way, it might not be connected at all."

"But still, it's surely not a coincidence anymore..."

"Don't tell me there's someone who's playing with my life and thus that person showed me my future...?"

"M-M-M-My future...?! T-T-T-T-T-There's no way such a beauty like her would end up with a girl like me, right...?"

And so, Yoshiko ended her usual self-conversation in the morning like usual. Eyes locked onto the alarm near her drawer, and, as fast as she could, she leaped from her bed, reaching for her uniform. It was 30 minutes late from her usual and she couldn't possibly got late again today (It was enough that she became a topic of conversation in her class last time she got late).

After her seemed-useless struggle, Yoshiko managed to barely caught the bus and thus she rode on it. There, she met her friend, You-chan.

"Ah, you're late, too, Yoshiko? Or, should I call you 'Yohane'? Hohoho~"

"Stop it, You! I don't need you to tease me this early in the morning."

"So, what makes you late today, Yoshiko?" an innocent inquiry

"Ah, I was just having weird dreams nowadays..."

"Hmmm? What weird dream?"

"I can't really classify it, but it seemed like a dream about my future..."

"Your future...?"

"Yeah..., and it's been a week already..., weird, isn't it? What's more it seemed like each dream was connected to each other..."

"Heeeee~"

 _Yoshiko was still in confusion...  
Unknown to her, the one who sat beside her, You-chan, was looking at her as if she knew something about the former's condition..._


	8. Shadows

_Road back home from school_

Weird. That must be the only word Riko could use to explain the relationship between her and Yoshiko. She's sure she always spotted the younger girl usually took a glance at her, seemingly trying to make sure of something Riko didn't know. But when Riko went out and asked about it, Yoshiko would only blushed and dodged the question. Why?

Riko's sure she never got on Yoshiko's bad side. Instead, she always tried to make sure she never inquired the purple eyed regarding what happened three years ago. But, if what happened was something confusing like this, she would rather rethink her plan for sure.

Well, Riko herself knew that her feeling now wasn't something that could be called love. It might be just an admiration that born from curiosity. However, it didn't mean things would stay that way. At least she never hoped to. The thing is, There was something about Yoshiko that make Riko couldn't take her eyes off her. What that thing was, she didn't know. At least not yet.

"Maybe there's a red string of fate connecting both of us...?" muttered Riko before she suddenly caught in a hug by Chika

"Kyaaaa...! C-C-Chika-chan, what are you doing, surprising me like that!?" flustered Riko who broke free from the hug, while the hugger laughed

"Hahahaha~ It's nothing, Riko-chan. I just wanted to surprise you. By the way, how's your search for your mysterious girl? Got anything new?" inquiry from Chika

"I think I'd already knew who's the woman, Chika-chan." and thus Chika was surprised

"Wha?! Really!? Who?" further ask

"I'm sure it's Yoshiko-chan." flatly

"Ehhhh~ Are you sure it's her? I don't think a girl who looked frail like her is capable of carrying you, Riko-chan..." doubted it

"But I'm sure it's her. For as long as I could remember, I never saw someone with such unique purple eyes like her. It's no one but her!"

"Well, if you say so. Then, since you find out your mysterious person, what are you planning to do?"

"W-Well, for starter I only wanted to make sure it's her and then befriend her like how I am to you and You-chan. But it seemed like she was something from me. I don't know what that is, aside from the fact that she must have remember me, but I'm sure there's more to it. I will find out for sure."

"You sound like a detective, Riko-chan. Well, if you need help then don't hesitate to ask me, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Chika-chan. See you tomorrow..." said Riko as she went inside her house

 _Chika's house, an hour after she got home_

"Satisfied now?"

"What's so sudden?"

"Don't play dumb. Look at what we've done here. We're lucky that things didn't got out of control, you know? What if they ended up not together? It will mean we changed the future. You know what's the punishment for changing human's fate, right?"

"C'mon, don't be such a worrywart like that. I knew the consequences. Besides, don't you think it's too late to be saying that? Back then we'd already meddled with their lives and all that we could do now is to make sure they got together, okay? Just relax."

"You sound so carefree for such a trouble-making angel, you know? Now, what should I do next?"

"Hmmmmm... Let's see: We managed to make them joined Aqours; they also kinda interested in each other; I think up to this point we're still on track. And yes, I also gave Yoshiko a glimpse of her future every night these da-" not even finished her words

"You what!? What did you just do? Oh my gosh! We're surely making things more complicated! I can't even imagine what would Dia and Kanan tell us to do at the next meeting. Hopefully it's only you who's being punished this time. Well, wishful thinking, even though I know both of us would be punished for sure..."

"W-Well, let's not think about what's far ahead. For now, let's focus on Yoshiko and Riko, okay?"

"You're so careless, and I can't believe I didn't dump you all these years..."

"Spare me the sarcasm, will you? C'mon, just focus on what's in front of us..., okay?"

"Fine, but don't you ever do something stupid like that again, promise?"

"I promise!"

"Huh~ I'm suddenly feel so tired tonight. Well, I'm going to sleep right now. See you tomorrow. Love you~"

"Love you too~"

 _The phone call finally ended and the mysteries around Yoshiko and Riko still on cloud nine..._


	9. Lapse

_Numazu, a cafe near Yoshiko's place_

"So, can any of you explain the situation here...?" Yoshiko started

"Hmmm? What is there to explain, it's just a double date, right, You-chan?" Chika said as she poked the ash hair's cheek as the latter nodded in agreement

"What date!? You said we're having a meeting about our next show, Chika! How the heck did it turn into a date?!" a little bit furious "A-A-A-And you, Riko, I'm surprised you just nonchalantly accepted Chika's words like that..."

"Ahaha..." forced laugh from Riko

"Let's get back to the main topic! What should we do about the show for next two weeks? All that's done was the costumes, right? Hey, Chika...!" shouted to the leader of their little school idol group

Aqours. 4 members. Takami Chika, the leader who smile brightly like the sun. Always energetic and full of passion. Watanabe You, the costume designer. She's the one who invited Yoshiko to join Aqours (might as well say it a blackmail). A girl who usually acted as the 'brake' for her other half, the leader, but in a not so rare occasion she would also joined whatever stupidities the orange hair did. Sakurauchi Riko, the only one who's knowledgeable in music. A pianist for the group. A little timid and easily flustered, but somehow had this strange feeling to her and usually spend her time reading strange books. And lastly, Tsushima Yoshiko, the girl who's normal in every last bit of her life, until she decided to adapt the 'Yohane' persona to become **'unique'**. Well, the reason for her doing so was mostly because of Riko.

Chika and You usually done everything together, always in sync and never did Yoshiko saw those two even argue at each other. Well, seeing that both of them were childhood friends, it's a given. Then, as both Chika and You were usually together, it left her with the only member left. Riko. The girl she's trying to avoid nowadays.

No, it's not because she hate her or something. It's just there were too many things, strange things, happening ever since she got to know that certain senior. Like those dreams that thankfully stopped a day before. Even the first time she met her, it was already strange. Just how the heck can a girl suddenly appeared and fell like that? Yoshiko didn't know the answer. At least not yet.

Yoshiko really wanted to know the truth from the, should she said, incident from back then. Well, given that she left her with the adults at that time, she didn't know how it turned out afterwards. But there was something that blocked her urge to just talked about it with the redhead.

And that something was none other than her pride. Or should she categorized it as wish? Yoshiko was already longing for a **'unique'** life ever since she realized that she was just like the others, a plain girl who lived in a rural town. And when she met Riko again, she was already hoping for the senior to be acting as the one she's fated with.

Well, being a coward in nature, when the things she wished finally happened, Yoshiko backed off and thus left the relationship between both of them became unclear and awkward. They were indeed friends, but never as close as Chika and You. And then, she was feeling that she should've just give up on her romanticist nature, those weird dreams suddenly rammed her every night for a week. A dream about her who's together with Riko.

Riko called her Yocchan and she called the girl Lily. The dreams were too surreal that they didn't seemed like just some random dreams. They also seemed connected to each other. Why? Yoshiko didn't know. Just when she was about to give up, why did she had to saw those, she wondered. Maybe it's because she mustn't give up on being a romanticist dreamer? Or, it was just a foresight of a future that she should grasp.

"...-chan?"

"Yoshiko-chan...?" Hello...?" a hand waving in front of her face

And after a while, Yoshiko was finally being brought back to the reality from her self-thinking "A-A-Ah..., what? What did I missed?"

"W-Well, since it was already late and you seemed to be sleepy, we think maybe it's time for us to go back home..." Riko answered

"I-I am fine with that, but what about the preparations for our live? Is it done?"

"It's already done, Yoshiko-chan. You-chan had already finished them."

"O-Okay, then.."

Four of the girls went out of the cafe, with Chika and Riko headed to the bus stop. However, just as they were about to reach the bus stop, Yoshiko suddenly grabbed Riko's wrist.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Yoshiko-chan..., what are you doing?" fully confused Riko

"I need to talk with you alone." serious-faced

"B-B-B-But I have to go back home. W-What about tomorrow?" bargain

"No, it has to be today."

"Eeeeee?!"

"Please...?" donning puppy eyes to the flustered senior

"F-Fine, then." Riko answered as she called out to the talking Chika and You-chan "Ummm..., Chika-chan, I have something to do with Yoshiko-chan so you can head home first..."

 _And as soon as Riko finished the words, Yoshiko took the senior's hand and led her to her home._


	10. Causal

"Hey, Riko... I know it might sounds strange, but, have you ever being called Lily by anyone?"

"Huh? What is it, out of the blue? No, I have never being called Lily..." confused

"E-Eh... Well, I thought you were. Then question number two...-"

"Number two...?"

"Let me finish! Ask me back when I'm done!"

"O-Okay..., then...?"

"Number two: In this few days, no, this week, have you ever having dream about being with someone... Let's say, for example, with me? Being on a date or alike?"

"N, No, I don't think so...?" _what is this inquiry? Yoshiko-chan seemed really strange ever since the meeting at the cafe earlier_

"Number three: Do you remember someone who's called Yocchan?"

"...H-Huh...? Y-Yocch-Yocchan? I don't th-! Wait! I think I recalled that name somewhere..."

"It's fine if you don't really remember..., now let's move on to number fo-" not finished talking and Riko cut herself in

"Wait! I remember it now! Yocchan, yes Yocchan! It was the nickname of the girl who's helping me back when I was unconscious in the festival in Awashima three years ago. I think her mother or someone called her by that name. Wait, d-do you know something about her, Yoshiko-chan?"

"Hmmmmm... Hmmmm? Wait a moment. At that time, I thought for sure she was unconscious. But if she even learnt about my nickname which my mom called back in middle school, then...?" Yoshiko mumbled to herself as she unconsciously ignored the now-questioning red hair

"Yoshiko-chan...?"

"But if she really know about it, then surely **'that book'** must be surely existed inside her drawer right now... Hmmmmm..." Yoshiko didn't hear Riko calling out to her

"Yoshiko-chan..., hello?" _She didn't hear me or what?_

"Yes, if that's true then all those dreams I've been seeing must be foresight of what happened in the future..-"

"YOCCHAN!"

And, as fast as her body could react, Yoshiko replied to the shouting that her mom usually did if she's busy playing games with headphones on "Yes, mom!?"

After a split second, Yoshiko was being brought to the reality as her eyes locked onto the sight of the girl in front of her. Riko, whose face was surely came into what seemed like enlightment to her questions. Realizing that, Yoshiko suddenly trapped in distraught. What should be done at a time like this? Yoshiko didn't even considered that the one who shouted to her earlier was her senior. And inevitably, it's like she'd just blurted out that she was, indeed, the girl from three years ago

"Yoshiko-chan...? Don't tell me..., you're really that girl from three years ago...?"

"N-No, I-I wasn't the girl from three years ago, Riko..." Yoshiko tried

"But the way you responded earlier..." doubted the junior, fully at that

"I-It was a coincidence, okay... Maybe both of us were just having the same nickname, right? Look, even You was being called Yocchan, too, right?"

"It might be similar, but they're not the same. Besides, I'd already know that Chika and You-chan was busy with their eating contest at that time so there's no way they were near the shrine..."

"B-But..." _c'mon, make excuses, Yoshiko!_

"And what's more, your eyes! I saw those purple irises back then. They were the only clue I had about that girl. Ever since I came here, after I tried to searched for them all this time, only you who's having those purple irises. You can't fool me anymore, Yoshiko-chan!" Riko, heated with mysteries that clouded her for so long finally being brought to light, stood up unconsciously

"M-My mom also has the same purple irises, y-you know?"

"The one who's helping me was obviously a girl younger than your mother!" Riko realized she was standing, and so she sat back and continued "Hey, Yoshiko-chan..., why are you keep on persisting that the girl from before wasn't you? Did helping me back then make you that unhappy that you can't even accept it and always denied me like this...?" enraged, maybe?

"..."

"Say something, Yoshiko-chan!"

"... Fine, it was me all along." finally Yoshiko confessed about the fact, and thus she met her purple eyes, the proof of their meeting three years ago, with the heated golden ones "You know, I was just afraid, okay?"

"Afraid? Afraid of what?"

"I-I'm afraid of being **'unique'**..."

"Unique?"

"Yes... Let me explain this from the very beginning, Riko..."

"Okay..."

So Yoshiko went and told the redhead about how her past self was like an empty person who's so normal there were never anything special to her. And because she hated that fact, she was longing for something special. Something **'unique'**. However, it wasn't that easy since people will mocked her if she did something outrageous. At least her mother might yelled at her for it.

And inside that lack of confidence, she found herself around the shrine, experiencing something normal people would surely might never even had a chance to see all their lifetimes. And that was Riko who suddenly fell around the entrance of the shrine.

At that time, Yoshiko was confused but also overjoyed. Finally. Finally, she experienced something **'unique'**. Wanting to continue and make it a streak of happiness to herself, Yoshiko opted to help the unconscious Riko and brought her down for help. However, being a coward, and that fact she really hated all this time, she chose to bail out and didn't meet eye-to-eye with the girl she saved.

Long after that, three years later, as if the God wanted to give her a second chance, Yoshiko met again with Riko. And this time, convinced that she might never had any chance again, she chose to fully focused on becoming **'unique'**. And so, she adopted 'Yohane'. The other side of her. The perfect her.

The meeting happened once more, this time with Riko being conscious. Yoshiko was happy that Riko seemed to recall herself being the one who saved her back then. But then, a stupid thinking came to mind. "What if I pretend to didn't now about her? It must be **'unique'** , right?"

"...And that's about it. Sorry I'm being such a pain in the ass, Riko. I'm really sorry for always pretending to not remember you all this time..."

And all that Riko could do when she finished hearing the story was frozen in her seat. Her mind couldn't believe it yet. But, the reality was indeed presented right in front of her. Yoshiko was really the girl who saved her from back then. She was never wrong at all. Yoshiko was sure her savior all along.

"Y-You are really stupid, Yoshiko-chan... Do you know just how much I've been in distress because of your search for your so-called **'unique'**...!?"

"I-I'm sorry, Riko...!"

"I don't need your words right now! It all just sound like lies!"

"S-Sorry..."

"Y-You're so cruel, Yoshiko-chan... All this time I was trying so hard to find you. Find my savior... But you... you would just be that stupid and make a mess out of it!"

"R-Riko..."

"Shut up!"

"..."

"Why are you obeying me like that!?"

"Eeeehhh...?!"

"Come here!" Riko not-so-lightly tapped the seat right beside her, signalling Yoshiko to come and sit there

"O-Okay..." being in guilt, Yoshiko complied

"Now, face me!"

"W-Why?"

"Just do it, Yoshiko-chan! I want to prove something!"

"L-Like this?" a little bit flustered Yoshiko, now whose cheeks are inside the palms of her senior

... Like a panther on the savanna, Riko attacked the lips of the girl who lied her way just for something she found really outrageous wit her own. Yoshiko was, of course, really surprised. She thought that her eyes might be being inspected or something like that. Instead, she got a wild kiss like that. And when she finally opened her eyes after the kiss...

" _ **And now we're even, Yocchan..."**_


	11. Upheaval

_Tsushima's residence, an hour after the sudden kiss_

Yoshiko, eloping herself inside her blanket, still on refusal to talk with the certain redhead who's been trying her best for a while now. She tried talking reason but to no avail. Well, for Yoshiko it was surely something rather cruel being done to her. Her only first kiss was being stolen just in the blink of an eye. What's more, it was without her own consent.

"C'mon, Yoshiko-chan… I'm begging you, please talk to me…"

"…."

"Yoshiko-chan, please…" pleading for who knew how many times already

"… I don't have any intention talking to some cruel girl like you…"

"C-Cruel girl…? B-b-b-b-b-but I-I was just kissing you. I didn't hit you or anything like that…"

"It's all the same! It's the same with you stealing such important thing from me!"

"Yoshiko-chan… I-I didn't know that was your first kiss…. W-Well, I don't think it might brighten your mood but it was also my first kiss…"

"…"

"Yoshiko-chan…, why are you being silent again…?"

"…pay…"

"H-Huh? I can't hear you quite well…"

"…You must pay…"

"Pay…? With what, money?"

"O-O-Of course not, stupid Riko! You must heed my one wish, no question asked!"

"O-Okay, if it will make you back to normal, Yoshiko-chan…"

"T-Then,,, tomorrow, y-you will let me stay the night at your house… got it?"

"B-But why?"

"I said no question asked!"

"R-Right…"

"Now go home! We will continue this conversation tomorrow!"

Without even an explanation given, Riko headed home with questions inside her head. What does Yoshiko meant by Lily? What was up with the book she said earlier? And, staying the night at her place? Is everything connected with her wish being **'unique'**? Well, for now all she could do was to wait for tomorrow to come.

 _The next day, Riko's house, roughly an hour before the promised time_

"Lily…, Lily…, just who is the one who called me Lily…? If anything, it sounded like a name someone like Yoshiko-chan would use… But she'd never called me anything except Riko… Hmmmmmmm…"

"And what's the deal with that book? What book is she talking about? If I'm not mistaken, she said that it was located in my drawer. But I didn't have such book… Just what is happening here?"

"Huh~ There's nothing normal happening around me ever since I got involved with Yoshiko-chan…"

"Well, not that I hated it, of course…"

"But still… at least an explanation would be appreciated here, I think…"

And as Riko was still inside her little thinking, slowly she was drowned in sleepiness. And as anyone could expect, she fell asleep right there on her chair. After a while, she was hearing some strange noises from around her.

"I'm sure I saw that book in this drawer. Where did she hide it!?"

"…Yoshiko-chan…?"

"A-A-Ah, Riko, you're awake…"

"How did you enter the house…?"

"A-Ah, your mother let me in, yeah…"

"And, what are you doing with my drawer, are you searching for that book…?"

"R-Riko, so you know about that book too!"

"H-Huh? What book. I don't know anything except that you're saying I might have it… Besides, I don't even know what kind of book you're taking about…"

"I-It was a book, pink-colored, and the keyholder was golden. I think it was as big as my palm?"

"W-Wait a moment…" Riko stood up from her seat and went to the dresser, seemingly opening a secret storage behind her clothes. She then took one thing that looked like a book inside Yoshiko's dream "You're not talking about this book, right?"

"It was that book Riko!"

"How do you know about this book? This is my diary and I never told anyone about me keeping a diary… Yoshiko-chan, what is going on here?" wary plus suspicious Riko

"L-Let me explain, Riko. You might not believe me, but I saw th-" Yoshiko's sentence was suddenly cut short as Riko's mother suddenly called her daughter

"Riko…! Chika-chan came by…" shouted from downstairs

"Chika?" mumbled Riko to herself. However, as she was about to excuse herself to go down to Yoshiko, the latter was suddenly not there. Confused, Riko was intending to ask her mother downstairs, but just as she tried to take a step by turning back, a light touch tapped her shoulder. When she did turned back, there was Chika, smiling at her as the latter's index finger gave a light touch to Riko's forehead. And then everything's black…

 _Uranohoshi High School, rooftop_

Yoshiko was just about to scream inside Riko's house when she suddenly saw an afterimage of someone who looked like You-chan. However, as she didn't manage to do that, things around her started to blur. When she gained her consciousness back, she was there, right at the rooftop that's usually used for Aqours' practice. And there was standing her friend, You-chan.

"What is happening here, You?" the aura around her friend was strange

"No, Yoshiko. You're not supposed to tell her about your dream…"

"…How did you kn- Don't tell me it was you who showed me those dreams?!"

"Well, you might say that I did…"

"You…"

"You must be surprised by this turn of event, Yoshiko. But fear not, I'm here to help you…, so don't worry…"

"Don't worry…? What am I supposed to be worried about? If anything, it was your identity, You. There's no normal human who could suddenly disappeared from many kilometers and then showed up here like it's no big deal…. What are you, You?"

"I am an angel, Yoshiko…"

"Angel…?"

"Yes, I am an angel that was send to monitor you."

"Why me…?"

"Well, I don't really know the reason behind the order I got. All I know is I need to do the job given to me. However, along the way, me and my partner made a little mistake…"

"Mistake…?"

"Yes… You know, you're supposed to be with Riko just a week after you meet her in Numazu. But because of me and my partner both of you turned out to never talked to each other at all…"

"Huh…?"

 _Confusion arises inside Yoshiko's head as the reason behind every strange thing that's been happening to her would finally being thoroughly explained…_


	12. Clumsy

It all started just a week before the school entrance. At that time, You-chan was really busy preparing her belonging for the next stay over at Chika's house. One could say drowned in a bit of ecstasy, the gray hair didn't really pay any attention to her surrounding. Especially not some strange-looking screen that showed Yoshiko who was running around Numazu, seemingly looking for something.

You-chan was an angel that was dispatched by Kanan to monitor Yoshiko, the girl who's in future would do a great change in the future. From all her experience, that job was so far the most easy job ever. All she had to do was to keep the girl to never stray and managed to found her love, thus making her confident in pursuing her future-dream. And what made things even better was Chika also being dispatched by Dia to monitor the love of Yoshiko.

Freely capable of manipulating her age, You-chan chose to be a one year senior to Yoshiko. Her plan was a great success as she easily befriend the kind girl. Having ease in her job, she never had any difficulties all the time. At least that's what she thought before the time for Riko, Yoshiko's fated person, to meet Yoshiko drew near.

At that time, Chika was overly excited because she's finally going to do her first job as an angel. Then, thinking that she needed to do her first job as perfect as You-chan has done, she chose to look for information about this Riko girl. Opting to use her foresight power, Chika went ahead and look far into the future about Riko, trying to learn about the redhead even though Dia sternly warned her not to do silly things with her special power, especially not changing the cause of the future she saw. But being a curious girl like Chika, she couldn't help it and did it anyway.

Of course things that happened afterwards were disastrous. Chika saw in the future that Riko would experienced an accident on her way to one of her most important piano competition. Seeing such horrible thing, Chika didn't even thought far about what would happen if she, indeed, changed the future by meddling with something that was fortunately could be avoided soon enough.

The cause for Riko had the accident was because she had a fight with Yoshiko at the time, roughly a week before the competition. After a week of silent treatment from both parties, just an hour before the competition, Yoshiko suddenly LINE'd the redhead that she's sorry for being grumpy over the week regarding how busy Riko was and she would always supported the decision the senior made. Feeling so happy, Riko, instead of heading straight to the competition place, went to meet Yoshiko in her workplace first. And on the way, the accident happened.

The accident itself wasn't something so fearsome or alike. It didn't rob Riko of her life. However, the shocked it caused for Riko was so great the redhead's fingers were never the same anymore. Always trembling, Riko more or least realized that her carrier as a pianist might had been over the time she had the accident.

Believing herself to be right, Chika went all out with her power to change such horrible future (she thought) by cutting the red thread connecting Riko and Yoshiko. An act such as dissipating someone's fate like that was of course would disturb almost all events in the future. But Chika did it anyway. Fortunate or not, You-chan was right there, just right after she opened the door of Chika's room when she saw the act.

it was such an horror afterwards. Kanan and Dia suddenly called both of the junior angels to Heaven. Chika was scolded thoroughly by Dia while Kanan was really busy trying to repair all the damage that had been done by Chika. Even thought Chika did said that her reason was for a greater good, You-chan used her own power and saw what happened after the accident involving Riko. It was true that Riko was really depressed and her relationship with Yoshiko deteriorated. However, Yoshiko didn't gave up and she managed to convince Riko to accept her lost of career and instead of wallowing in pain and blaming the God for such cruelty, it would be better to help Yoshiko achieve her dream that she discovered when she saw Riko who's trying to play the piano again. Yoshiko wanted to find the cure for her lover, and after being helped by Riko, they managed to find the cure. And of course, the medicine they invented that time became really famous and it brought a big change to the world.

Seeing such future, You-chan could only laughed dryly. Well, it was her own fault for not paying close attention to her job, even though she should've saw the red thread that was started to be disturbed by an unknown force (Chika) when she was at her own home. Leaving with no choice, You-chan begged for herself and Chika to fix the timeline. Well, after mostly convincing Dia to agree, You-chan then brought herself and Chika back to the past, this time with Kanan and Dia also went to Earth to monitor both junior angels closely.

"Things afterwards were as you experienced, Yoshiko... I'm sorry for fooling you all this time..." You-chan closed her explanation

"... W-Well, I think I do understand why Chika took that choice, and it's not like you're at fault here, You..."

"But still..."

"Don't blame yourself. Even after hearing all those things, I still didn't feel disgusted or alike at you, so I think I really didn't find you at fault, okay...? But really, me and Riko, huh? It sounds like a joke, no, more like a fairy tale..." Yoshiko laughed

"Yoshiko..." You-chan still wanted to apologize

"C'mon, You. Stop with that face. I know you're feeling really guilty, but it's fine, really..."

"At least let me repent for my and Chika's fault..."

"Hmmmm... Well, if you really insist... then I will take you on that offer and make you do something for me..." Yoshiko smirked

"... Do what?"

"Let me go back to Riko now... I think I need to tell her something..."

"Are you planning to tell her everything I told you, Yoshiko?"

"Of course not, duh! Why would I do such silly thing, really? Don't worry, I won't tell her anything about you or Chika's identity as an angel. Just let me meet her, okay?"

"Fine, then..."

"Thanks, You..."

"It's me who's supposed to be saying that Yoshiko. Really, you. You're too kind, Yoshiko..."

"Don't flatter me, silly You. C'mon, I need to secure my love as soon as possible, right? It's for me and my friend's sake, too!" Yoshiko smiled at her friend who started to shed tears

"Okay..."

 _and then Yoshiko's vision was filled with white_


	13. Apex

" _ **Let the memories written between us become a bridge of our reconnecting love..."**_

Riko's room, after Yoshiko disappeared

"Chika-chan, what are you trying to do...?! Kyaaaa~" Riko screamed as her hands were being tied up by her friend

"I'm sorry, Riko. It looks like we need to reset this timeline, too..."

"Huh? Timeline...? What are you talking about, Chika-chan?"

"Tch! I never thought that You-chan would told Yoshiko everything..." mumbled the orange head

"You-chan? Yoshiko-chan? What happened here, Chika-chan?!" still trying to break free

"You don't have to know, Riko-chan! Just let me reset it all again and I'm sure things would be just fine..."

"H-Huh!? You're getting crazy, Chika-chan. Please stop this!"

"No, Riko-chan. It's you who doesn't understand..." answered the orange head while her eyes looked like those void of hope, unlike the usual Chika

 _After Yoshiko being taken by You-chan, Chika was supposed to only came and distracted the redhead. However, far from doing her job correctly, Chika opted to just use her power to reset this timeline because she thought You-chan was just making a mistake by telling their circumstances to Yoshiko. After she managed to fooled the mother of Riko, they went ahead to Riko's room, and then she tried to execute her plan._

"No, it's you who doesn't understand, Chika!" a black-haired suddenly showed up from Riko's behind and she set free the arms of the former girl

"D-Dia... Why are you here?" shocked

"Chika, I can't believe you're just about to repeat the same mistake again. I thought you were smarter than this..." Now a blue-haired came and grabbed the orange head

"Kanan, too. I thought I'd already locked you two at your house..."

"Huh? Is making a weak barrier like that even enough to hold us down. You're underestimating us too much, Chika..." Kanan nonchalantly answered

"Chika, you do know that You-chan put all of her to help you fix the problems you've made before, right? Why are you doing this?" Dia made Riko stood behind her so there's a precaution in case Chika did something dangerous

"I know that! I know that she does put her everything to help me, and that's why I can't understand why she planned to tell Yoshiko about what happened before! I-If she did that, then all of our hardworks are going to be a whole big mess. It'll only create another branches in the timeline system..." Chika firmed her cause

"It'll not create branches, Chika..." simple answer from Dia

"H-Huh? There's no way it'll not create any branch!"

"Just think about it. Just why do you think You went that far to make sure Yoshiko didn't tell Riko about the dreams you've made her seen before?"

"Huh? Isn't that just a sign that You-chan had already surrendered and want to make things easier-"

And not even a second after the orange head said that, Dia went closing their distance and thus her hand flied to the cheek of the former " **SHE DID IT ALL FOR YOU, CHIKA!** Just what is you've been studying at the academy before!?"

Chika's face was still filled with anger as she didn't understand the reason for a move that she thought would only done more harm than good to their initial plan. And then Kanan went ahead and spoke the things Chika should've known...

"Chika, do you know about the ' _age regression system'_?"

"Age regression system...?"

"Yes. It is a system which an angel can use when they're dealing with problems that couldn't be resolved except by resetting a certain branch in the timeline. And what's happening around Yoshiko and Riko is one of the example of that problem." Chika was still puzzled as Kanan continued her explanation "However, there's a ironclad rule if you want to use the age regression system. You mustn't ever let more than one human know about the changes you've made in that branch. And by using the said system, you would be able to reset without damaging other branches, but in return, your age would be the cost for the usage." and thus Chika finally got the reason for why her lover did all the seemingly coward move earlier

"S-So, are you saying that she sacrificed herself for me...?" tears started to form, bubbly around Chika's eyes

"Yes." seriously answered by Dia

"Well, it's not like she wasted all of her lifetime for this matter. Maybe she still had at least half of her time left..." Kanan said the words as if it wasn't that grim for someone to just sacrificed half of her lifetime just for fixing asome problem created by the other

"H-Half..." Chika, feeling hopelessly stupid now

"And since she'd told Yoshiko the truth, then the cost must have been paid. Shortly, an hour from now on, this branch would be reset. I don't know how far the reset would take, but maybe Yoshiko and Riko might need to start over from the moment before they met..."

Chika couldn't help but feeling out of life. All that she did even after making her lover helping her all to the extent of begging for another chance back then was to make another mess. On the other hand, Riko was still there, feeling overwhelmed just by how much 'truth' that's hidden behind her and Yoshiko being blurted right in front of her. And from how the conversations going around before, she thought that if it's true then it might mean You-chan would not be capable of using the age regression system since she also knew about the 'truth' now. However...

"Don't worry about it, Riko-chan, All I had to do is just to make sure you forget about what happened here. By doing that, You will not going to waste her life for nothing..." Kanan, as if she could read the mind of the redhead who's been silent for a while as the angels talked among themselves

"B-But Kanan-san, a-are you sure I will still be able to meet Yoshiko-chan again...?"

"Hahahaha... Relax, Riko-chan. You see, if you two are really fated to be together then don't worry. I'm sure both of you will find the way to reconnect again. Just think of this as the last trouble we angels made you to suffer. But, let's see this from another angle..., don't you feel excited, having the chance to redo how you meet with your future lover again...?"

And by the last sentence Kanan said to her, Riko unconsciously smiled. Well, she did thought that it might not be such a bad deal if she would be experiencing another meeting with her love. Maybe she would be the savior for the junior this time, instead? With so many excitement that she would experience in another future, Riko agreed to the proposal given by the bluehead

"Okay, then, Kanan-san. If that's the only way to make sure all of the efforts being done in all this ordeal not be a waste then I accept your proposal."

Kanan was a bit surprised to see that Riko agreed to her proposal. However, right before she started to fiddle with the memories of the redhead, a blue light came out of nowhere...

"Just wait!" Yoshiko screamed as she suddenly appeared from the strange light before

"Y-Yoshiko-chan! Where did you go!?" surprised Riko

"Haha~ Well, it's a long and boring story. Anyways, we have something to talk, Riko!" yoshiko said as if she wasn't even surprised by the people inside Riko's room right now

Riko looked toward Kanan, seemingly asking for permission, and so she did got a nod from the bluehead. "O-Okay, then..." answered Riko to Yoshiko

 _The beach right in front of Riko's house, sitting side by side near the water_

"So you also knew about them now, Riko?"

"Y-Yes..., it was shocking."

"Well, no one would be able to feel normal after knowing such existences like angel really exists, right?"

"Yeah, that's true..."

"Nee, Riko..."

"Yes?"

"You know about You's plan, right?"

"Yes, Kanan and Dia told me about it earlier..., what about it?"

"Did they said anything else...?"

"Ummm, well, they also said something about showing dreams... So, are they the dreams you asked me about before, Yoshiko-chan...?"

Yoshiko nodded "They were the dreams I got. Well, after knowing the truth, it might be better to say that they were foresight from the future. They were all showing a future where both us are lovers..."

"Lovers, huh? So, even the Lily and Yocchan, too?"

"Yocchan was the name I usually called by my mother, and she taught you about it after we got together. Well, for Lily, it was a name I gave you when I asked you out... Hehe~"

"Me and Yoshiko-chan, huh? It's still feel so unreal, especially after how much you're distancing yourself from me all this time... becoming lovers in the near future..., life really is a mystery, nee Yoshiko-chan...?"

"Hahahaha~ Well, even I didn't expect such turn of events, even thought I do wish that I got to be your lover at some point, Riko..."

And after Yoshiko said the words, Riko was frozen on the spot. Yoshiko tried to snap her out of it, but the redhead (now with red face, too) didn't show any sign of going back to reality.

"Oi, Riko..., sna-,, e-e-e-e-e-e-eeeeeeehhh? R-R-Riko, y-y-y-your hand..." now Yoshiko is the same as Riko, blushing hard as her hand was being held by the senior

"... Do you really mean what you said before, Yoshiko-chan...?"

"H-Huh? O-Oh, that... O-O-O-Of course I do! You might not believe me, but even without knowing that I will become your lover in the future from the dream, I'm sure I fell in love with you ever since I saw you at the school entrance ceremony..."

"And I had always loved you ever since I was saved by you at the shrine three years ago, Yoshiko-chan..." Riko cupped the cheek of her junior, eyes looking straight into Yoshiko "I really love you, Yoshiko-chan...!" said Riko again, now she added a bonus with her lips met Yoshiko's

"R-Riko...! I never know you're this bold...!" Yoshiko, blushing even harder

"Hehe~ Now you know the real me, Yoshiko-chan!" Riko smiled

Yoshiko then hugged the senior from behind. They enjoyed the company for a few silent minutes before Yoshiko started speaking again

"So, are you fine with us being separated again...?"

"Well, If I'm being honest I'm really afraid I might even let You-chan's effort went to waste. However, the excitement of meeting you for the first time again, nurturing admiration, and finally realizing the love I had for you again..., it's too alluring i can't even explain just how much I'm looking forward to it now!" Riko once again smiled at Yoshiko, now with so much destructive force (Yoshiko thought she was too cute with her angelic smile)

"I-If you are really fine with it, then I guess it's okay..."

Yoshiko looked once again at her love in front of her, her eyes wordlessly saying that they would be fine. "We will be separated again, but trust me..., I will find my way to you again, Lily. So please wait for me...!"

Yoshiko closed the sentence as she kissed her lover for the last time in this timeline. Not long afterwards, strange white light started to fill their surroundings, signalling that the age regression system is finally taking off.

"I'll be waiting for you, Yocchan...!" answerd Riko as things went into white, purely white

 _A month after Riko transferred to Uchiura, three years after the reset_

Chika and You: Chika was punished severely for her previous actions. However, she did learned from her mistake and managed to clear her name from the mistake she'd done. She also gave up half of her lifetime to You-chan, even thought the latter didn't want to accept it at all. Chika said that she needed to do that or she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. You-chan complied in the end.

Kanan and Dia: They were still on watch after the duo angels, but this time they went ahead and joined Aqours so things wouldn't going awry again.

 _ **For Yoshiko and Riko:**_

"So, we meet again, my little demon..." said the wannabe fallen angel, cloaked in black cape, overly confident with herself

"Ummm, Yocchan...?" confused redhead after being called to enter the clubroom alone

"Lily, please act according to the script I gave you! It won't be dramatic if I didn't do this..." a little bit pissed by her lover who still refused to act like a proper little demon

"Fine, fine, Yocchan..." she held her breath, and then "Now, let me, your little demon to be the one who will be the one dearest to her only fallen angel on this earth...!" a little bit flustered Riko, but Yoshiko smiled proudly at the acting

"As expected of my little demon. Now, from this moment on, you will become my number one little demon whom I love, I adore, I cherish, even until the death do as apart...! Huahahahahahahaha~~~" loudly laughing

Riko, bored face "Now that killed the mood, Yocchan..." Riko laughed herself as she saw the fallen angel was a bit irritated by the comment she made just now. Irritated Yoshiko then ran toward her

"Lily...! I said no mocking when we're doing the ritual!" shouted the purple eyes, chasing her girlfriend who ran outside, still laughing her heart out

 _The two girls, after being separated once again, found their ways to each other once again, even though it was a bit different this time. Yoshiko didn't meet Riko at Awashima, instead she met the girl a week before the school entrance when she was going to Tokyo to buy a stock of goth clothes, which on the way was aborted after she heard the redhead humming outside a comic book store. They then met each other again at the school entrance, both being mesmerized by each other, and after Chika and You-chan both invited the two lovebirds to join Aqours, they agreed (because there's Yoshiko in for Riko, and vice versa). Being put into the same sub-unit also made them much more closer than they already were. And in the end, on one of the sleepover at Riko's house when Mari couldn't attend, Riko confessed..._

 _ **The pursue for the correct path has led her to the one who's been waiting for her all this time...**_

 _ **Connected by the bonds even stronger than before, both girls managed to achieve the same happiness, might be even more than before, they have been trying to find...**_

HAPPY END


End file.
